Why Jeff Okudah Is Not Playing Safety Any Time Soon

Jeff Okudah is going to play cornerback for the Detroit Lions for the foreseeable future.

The Detroit Lions have experimented with different members of the roster playing at different positions in the secondary. 

Will Harris has been playing alongside Amani Oruwariye at cornerback, as Jeff Okudah works his way back from an Achilles' injury. 

Ifeatu Melifonwu has been seeing reps at safety, and could possibly be a solid fit at that position due to his physicality and awareness. 

Another player many felt the coaching staff should play at safety or at least see what he could accomplish at that spot is Okudah.

When asked during his latest media session about the possibility of playing at a different position, similar to his teammates, the 23-year-old indicated the coaching staff has never brought that to the table.

"I haven't ever heard about playing a different position," Okudah said. "I got drafted as a corner. Played corner in college. Played corner in high school. So honestly, I have never taken a snap at safety and never really gave it much thought. So, to answer your question, I'm a corner now, and I just play where I'm at."

Even though Okudah missed his sophomore NFL campaign, Lions head coach Dan Campbell explained how the Ohio State product kept a positive outlook. 

“I thought he did a good job. Look, that’s not easy. That’s not easy to do, when he really had progressed and worked himself through camp and got a little bit better. And really, before the injury, he made a couple of plays before that, to where he bounced back in the game and then that happens, and that’s not an easy thing to do. And, then he was hurt the year prior, but he did, he got it fixed," Campbell said. "He attacked the surgery, the rehab. He was up here plenty. We saw a lot of him. He wanted to be around, so he’d be up here watching tape with the guys, be in meetings. Sometimes he’d come out to practice or scoot out there, and so he was still engaged and wanted to be around. Look, he did a pretty good job with it. There again, it’s not easy. It’s a hard thing to do, but it’s better than just totally disengaging and being away from it, and I don’t think that’s great for you, either.”